Media Releases - 21 May 2020

From the bizarre and beautiful creatures that inhabit our world to rollicking stories where kids are superheroes for nature the shortlist for the Wilderness Society's Environment Award for Children's Literature (EACL) celebrates excellence in picture, fiction and non-fiction books for all kids.

The EACL award has been celebrating excellence in nature books for over 25 years. This year the award received more than 70 entries. The 10 books that made the 2020 shortlist was announced today on Facebook Live with our judges.

See our full breakdown of the books in the shortlist and the live unveiling by our three judges. And below, the books listed by category.

"I'm really pleased to be part of this award. I've been part of conservation initiatives before but nothing like this that is tailor-made for the next generation.

“I think it is important that there are people out there who are trying to share the idea of how important it is to take care of our planet.

“To be able to share that message in a way that's also entertaining and creative is not easy to do. So I think it's supremely important to have a prize like this that recognises those that can," says Rove.

Candice Lemon-Scott, author of the 2020 shortlisted fiction book Eco Rangers Microbat Mayhem was thrilled to get the news.

“The Wilderness Society does such important work for conservation, and advocating this through my stories is my goal with the Eco Rangers books,” says Lemon-Scott.

“My hope is to share and pass on my love of nature to children through the stories, especially those who may not have access to nature due to living in urban or city regions. I’m also a qualified wildlife carer, so I enjoy sharing some of that knowledge through the stories as well.”

The ten books on the 2020 shortlist paint a vibrant picture of Australia’s wildlife, wild places and Indigenous culture. They also aim to inspire action, from superhero characters in Super SideKicks 2: Ocean’s Revenge to the practical environmental activities in You Can Change the World.

"Books can teach you about nature, but they can also convince you of the power that you have in the world," says Dr Martin, senior lecturer in Science Communication at Melbourne University.

“Kids need to feel empowered to make change. Books can often do that because characters in a great story can sometimes enact incredible changes in the world.”